The Lonely
"Why are you writing for this show in 2019?"
Because shut up.
This story makes use of Humanoid/Anime Form character descriptions for most of them. Feel free to imagine them how you wish though since it really doesn't affect the story much. Why are they human form? I really don't know why, I just like it that way.
The following episodes have yet to happen: Halloween, The Bros, The Scam and (the very few) Carwin episodes
I guess this is 'kinda' an alternate "The Bros" Scenario?
…
The sun brightly shined down on Elmore High- Woops, typing error.
The sun brightly shined down on Elmore High as the students resumed their usual daily routine of slaving their lives away for 9 hours for 5 days learning nothing; not unlike what they would be doing when they grew up at least.
Better.
It was currently recess time, and most students were eating in the cafeteria, where the food was about the equivalent of half a teacher's salary, the entire workforce consisted of one orange guy, who was the janitor, cafeteria worker, bus driver, and mechanic, and where a certain couple was happily chatting with each other.
"Alright, so, would you still love me if I made my hair grow shorter?"
"Still manageable; as long as you don't grow a mullet."
"What, like this?"
Penny, the girl with glowing skin and long golden hair that always magically floated above her shoulder level, laughed alongside her boyfriend, Gumball, the blue-haired boy with cat ears, pale skin and red eyes.
"You should have seen it! It was awesome, like-"
Meanwhile, in the background, a certain dark-skinned boy with gills on his neck stood alone, watching the couple talk and chatter without a care in the world. His brown hair reached to his chin and he wore an orange jacket with a fish-like tail at the back of the hood.
Darwin stared sadly at the duo, his appetite lost despite the tray of food in his hands. It wasn't the first time he'd been left out like this, and the fish boy couldn't help but feel envious of the golden fairy girl, even if he knew it was completely selfish of him to think so. He grit his teeth, unable to stop his thoughts from lingering towards how terrible of a person Penny must secretly be.
"It's okay, Darwin, it's okay…" Darwin told himself. He turned back towards the cafeteria, looking for a distraction from the girl.
"Hey dude, where should…Oh. Right." He mentally facepalmed as he remembered that Gumball wasn't there to 'hold his hand'. The orange-hooded boy sighed broodingly, and decided to find some other method of distracting himself.
He looked through the cafeteria, and, eventually, he saw Carrie sat down, or rather, hovering over the lunch table with her ghost legs bent behind her back as usual. She was wearing her usual sleeveless polo, her arms covered in her usual 'goth arm bands', along with her black and gray leggings. The ghost girl sat/hovered alone on the lunch table, her arms crossed and eyes half-closed.
The ghost girl had a sad, and almost disgusted look on her face. Her gaze was towards Penny and Gumball as well. Carrie internally let out a sigh watching the duo laugh and chat, a longing gaze in her eyes.
Darwin, meanwhile, obliviously sat down on the lunch table, although he didn't feel like starting a conversation, he still felt a bit too bitter for that. He silently ate his food, his gaze also kept on the happy couple.
…
Carrie suddenly sighed, flipping her short hair as she did so, her skull pin oddly enough staying in place. Normally, Darwin would've asked why, but a part of him wanted some pity too, so, he did the only logical thing anyone would do in that situation:
Darwin sighed back, slightly longer than Carrie.
The ghost girl raised an eyebrow, and, not to be out-pitied, sighed longer.
Darwin, not to be out-pitied-pitied, sighed even longer, adding in a head shake for effect.
Carrie, not to be out-pitied-pitied-pitied, let her ghost legs rest on the lunch table seat, and sighed even longer.
Darwin, not to be out-pitied-pitied-pitied-pitied, rested his head on his hand and sighed even longer-er.
A silence lingered over the duo for a moment, neither willing to give in as they pouted in opposite directions.
…
"Okay, this clearly isn't working." Carrie pointed out, turning towards the orange-hooded boy, whom hummed in agreement.
"How about we just act like rational people and just talk about our problems instead?" Darwin suggested, his hands on his hips.
"Nah, I think I prefer keeping it inside until someone pesters me enough to do so."
"Oh. Okay"
…
"So what's wrong?" Darwin finally asked after an awkward moment of silence. The ghost girl froze for a moment, uncertain of what to say, how to say it, and whether or not she wanted to say it.
"…" The ghost girl bit her lip, and mentally decided 'why not'. Still wanting to prevent sounding overly pitiful, she suddenly pulled a yearbook out of nowhere and flipped it towards a certain page, her expression still gloomy.
"This." She said, lazily pointing towards a picture. Darwin peered over to see their class picture, everyone in his class happily smiling in the classroom.
"What's wrong with that?" Darwin asked, eyebrow raised. Carrie sighed, lowering her head a bit.
"I'm not in the picture." She clarified. The fish boy turned back towards the book, and didn't lower his raised brow. "I can't be seen since I'm a ghost."
"Why's that a problem? Class photos are just things you'll look at in 10 years time to remember all the things you regret and cringe as you slowly realize how you could've fixed your life. Besides, I thought you didn't like all that happy stuff." He asked. Carrie, for the fifth time in that conversation, sighed, slouching over slightly.
"That's not the point. I'm the only ghost in this school so-" Carrie suddenly choked on her words, realizing what she was about to say. "Never mind." She dismissed after a moment, her eyes trailing back towards the table…where she realized Darwin was sketching something on the yearbook.
The ghost girl raised an eyebrow, staring at the fish boy for a while, obliviously drawing on the picture with a black pen.
…
"What are you-"
"SHUSH!"
Darwin silenced the ghost girl, continuing to sketch on the picture, a bit of tongue sticking out the corner of his mouth.
…
"Done!" The fish boy suddenly exclaimed, dropping the pen and straightening his back. Carrie, curious, peered over and now…saw herself skillfully drawn inside the picture, casually floating over her classmates, a smile on her drawn face.
"…Wow. That's…actually pretty good." The ghost girl remarked with a smile, making Darwin smile as well. "Almost looks good enough to be Teri's second cousin." She added up as a compliment.
"Thanks! Sorry that I can't do this in all the other yearbooks though." He apologized (unnecessarily, in Carrie's mind), scratching the back of his neck.
"When'd you get good at drawing?" She asked.
"Well, I've had a lot of time to practice doing stuff since…since…" Darwin's smile faded, his gaze trailing towards the happy couple a few lunch tables away. Carrie followed the fish boy's gaze, and raised an eyebrow.
"Penny and Gumball?" The dark-skinned boy sighed again.
"Yeah, ever since Gumball's finally tied the knot with her, he's been spending a lot more time with her, and a lot less time with me." He brooded with a slight pout. Carrie thought for the moment, before frowning for him; normally she would've just thought that Darwin was being overly-clingy, which, she still thought he was, but then she remembered-
"Heh, heh, heh!" 'Jealousy' Darwin shook his head, before shrugging. "I'm actually quite happy with my life." (The Flower)
"Right, you probably don't have a lot of…experience being jealous and…all alone, right?" Carrie asked, before staring elsewhere. "Must be nice…" She muttered to herself, Darwin didn't seem to take notice though.
"I just can't help myself I guess. I've always been with Gumball all the time, and it just feels weird not having him around." Darwin lamented. "On the bright side, I have a lot more time to do other stuff! Like sketch!" He suddenly brought up as he held his pen.
"Mm." Carrie hummed, a tad bit disappointed that Darwin didn't hear what she muttered (even if it was barely audible, she still felt bitter.)
"Yeah. I don't really like talking about that sort of thing anyway." She muttered out, her face frowning as she stared at the happy couple.
Darwin noticed Carrie's demeanor, and bit his lip. Guilt weighed down on the fish boy since he was the one who brought up the couple in the first place, and thus, felt as though he needed to correct it somehow.
A brief moment of silence passed between the two, a tense awkwardness between them.
…
"Oh Gumball! Please tell me more about the time you learned to fart through your mouth!"
Carrie raised an eyebrow as she turned towards the fish boy, whom seemingly just tried to do his best Penny impression.
"Well, one time I ate so many sausages that my butt simply couldn't handle the pressure, and thus, I had to make due with what I had; here's a demonstration!"
Gumball burped loudly, but it only brought giggles to the fairy girl.
"Oh wow! That's so disgusting, but it only makes me want to kiss you more!"
Darwin attempted to voice-over as he couldn't tell what the duo was actually saying, like he usually would when Gumball was around (The Boombox). The orange-hooded boy chuckled to himself, but he had to admit that he wasn't as good at this as his half-brother was.
Still, he was glad when he suddenly heard Carrie's laughter at his joke, and it brought an odd feeling of satisfaction for the fish boy. He smiled, happy knowing he could make someone laugh, and turned back towards the couple, resuming his voice-overing.
"Mhmmm! I just can't get enough when you feed me your special soup! It tastes like Mr. Dad's socks after staying in the sun for five hours! Give me another!"
Darwin continued in his best Gumball impression as said cat boy took a spoonful of Penny's food. Darwin chuckled, and, to his delight, so did Carrie again. He was about to continue-
"Oh Gumball! That face you make when you look at me looks like a donkey trying to eat its own butt! It's just so attractive~!" Carrie suddenly joined Darwin's fun, resting her chin on her hands.
The duo laughed abruptly for a while, the ghost girl's earlier mood seemingly gone; the sight only made Darwin happier – he was glad he could rectify his accidental mishap.
"Hah…" Carrie breathed out, a smile still on her face. "Thanks for the laugh."
"No problem!" Darwin saluted, a happy smile on his face as well. "I just hope that…" Darwin's expression grew a bit darker, his smile fading into a light frown; Carrie tilted her head at the sudden 180 change.
"Gumball doesn't…forget about me and…stuff." He muttered quietly, as if he was ashamed to say it. The ghost girl tilted her head.
"I'm sure Penny won't do anything bad to him." Carrie tried to assure, although that didn't seem to help the fish boy in the slightest. The ghost girl, perplexed, asked the first question that came to her mind.
"Why are you so obsessed with Gumball anyways?" She asked, hands on her hips.
In a sudden display of rage, Darwin's face contorted into a look of terror, his eyes completely blackened out.
"HE'S MY BROTHER FROM ANOTHER MOTHER! THAT'S WHY!" He exclaimed in a surprisingly deep voice that sounded like it came from the underworld, making Carrie flinch and recoil at the sudden voice.
"Woah! Okay, okay." She raised her hands defensively, the orange-hooded boy eventually reverting back to normal. He huffed, and took another bite of his food. Carrie never saw that side of the fish boy before, so to say it caught her off guard was a severe understatement, not to mention this was already his second 180 mood swing in their conversation.
"How about we just drop the topic? I think you're going to need as much distraction as you can get from those two." She suggested. Darwin hummed lowly for a moment, and sighed.
"Yeah." He replied, uncharacteristically bitter, which made Carrie's eyes widen. Darwin lifted his now empty tray of food and stood up. "Thanks for the talk Carrie." He said, still sounding bitter. Carrie shook her head, bewildered at the fish boy's sudden mood swing.
"…Was it something I said?" She asked herself, her eyes suddenly doing a downcast gaze.
-LINE-BREAK-
For Carrie, the day resumed, as usual, listening to Ms. Simian's boring classes, taking up the surprise test that made everyone groan, and chatting with friends. Although Carrie was essentially the closest thing the school had to an emo (maybe the green-haired girl from the other class too), she still had a large circle of friends she would talk to, both in and out of school.
…
Even so, she still found herself alone in the library during lunchtime, the library itself was clean and furnished nicely. She didn't come there to read, of course, but to revel in loneliness instead. As counterintuitive her motivation seemed, she enjoyed it; the silence, the relaxation, and the odd soothing sound of pages being flipped and keys being pressed.
If she went to the cafeteria, she'd undoubtedly find people happily conversing with one another, bright smiles on their faces like there was no tomorrow, more so than recess time…and Carrie hated it.
…Well, 'hate' was a strong word, 'envy' seemed to be more appropriate.
Sometimes, in her silence in the library, save for the occasional scream from the computer section bellowing from the gamers (which, Carrie was admittedly one of them at times), she'd imagine there was someone with her to talk to, right beside her, talking about…about…
…
She didn't dislike the things she usually talked with her friends, but at times, she…just felt empty. There really wasn't a logical explanation behind it, but at times, she wanted to talk about herself, talk about her thoughts, talk about how she felt, talk about feelings, talk about what made her tick, talk about things she wanted but didn't 'fit' her, for hours and hours…
Every time Carrie would start that mental conversation though, she'd end it immediately; that was too cheesy, too corny…too sincere. To say Carrie was unfamiliar with that term was the understatement of the century; a childhood without parents to share those feelings with would do that to you.
Still, that unending desire to just 'talk' with someone sincerely was always there in her, like an itch she couldn't scratch, her desire always growing endlessly like the nail on a finger.
She shook her head, and attempted to relax in the silence around her, shaking off the thoughts she would never share with anyone.
…
Carrie found herself unable to relax, and groaned in frustration. Something was bugging her, and she didn't know what. It felt like…guilt?
Her thoughts trailed back towards the conversation she had earlier that day with a certain dark-skinned fish boy. She hummed lowly. pressing her lips together. A part of Carrie was mostly guilty, but she was also a tad curious. The ghost girl had to admit, she found Darwin a natural ball of joy and sincerity whenever he was around, and a part of her somewhat admired him for that, being such a contrast to herself.
It bugged her not knowing why he was so outraged and why he was so bitter. The idea of someone like him suddenly acting like that was too confusing for Carrie to understand, and the idea that he suddenly turned like that because of something Carrie said made guilt weigh on her like an anvil. She groaned in frustration, and pressed her elbows against the table in frustration...and accidentally phasing through the table, making her groan again.
The ghost girl could 'toggle' parts of her body to become 'phase-through' or 'touchable', but at times, even she forgets when she does at times.
She grit her teeth, and, after thinking about it too much, let out a deep sigh. She hovered out of the library, heading for her next class 10 minutes early.
-LINE-BREAK-
"Anyways so yeah Penny and I are going pretty steady we're not overly clingy with another and we don't have those stupid nicknames couples give each other and for now we're giving each other our own space having a girlfriend is great you know it's just so-"
"Yeah, but I just asked if you could hold my books."
"-Yeah we don't really care about looks see the beauty of being in a relationship is to get over the ego you keep bottled inside yourself and to release it when you're with each other and keep it contained at the same time so that they don't-"
Darwin groaned as he listened to his half-brother's rambling through the school corridor, like he usually would (The Mirror). He overheard something about a ring, but that was about all he understood; couldn't he have literally been talking about anything else? Gumball, thankfully, stopped talking about Penny when they reached his locker.
"Oh yeah, we still have that essay Mr. Small assigned to us right?" He asked, before blowing a raspberry. "I already know everything about myself, and I would prefer to keep it that way; why does society always try to bring out the worst in us when all it's gonna do is judge us for it with a bad grade?" Darwin smiled at the sudden change of topic.
"Yeah, it's like asking for a hotdog but with all the ingredients and none of the meat!" He exclaimed, resulting in a laugh from the duo.
"Hah…Anyways, I still got detention from Ms. Simian for giving a "faulty excuse" for being late." Gumball air-quoted with his fingers. "I still don't see how bad potatoes in the morning isn't a good excuse." The fish boy rolled his eyes.
"Firstly, don't diss the croquette, it rocks, secondly, the excuse you used was that the potatoes were keeping you up all night and planned to take over the world and enslave us as the secondary species, not a stomach ache." Darwin said with his arms crossed and eyes half-open.
"Tell that to Idaho." Gumball mumbled as blew another raspberry, and walked away to detention. "Tell mom I got into detention again. See you later dude!"
"See ya!" The two waved goodbye as the cat boy walked away. Darwin opened his locker and began to organize whatever stuff was in his backpack.
Meanwhile, Carrie, hovering right around the corner, bit her lip as she watched the orange-hooded boy fix his locker. The ghost girl silently watched the fish boy, still debating with herself whether or not she felt like engaging in conversation with him.
Carrie still couldn't help but feel a tinge of guilt for bringing the normally cheerful Darwin down earlier that day, as well as curiosity for her query. She knew that she wouldn't be satisfied with herself if she just left this alone, both out of guilt and curiosity, and now was probably about as good a time as any.
Sucking up whatever doubts she had, she floated over towards him.
"Yo." Darwin turned around to see the ghost girl behind them, her ghost legs bent behind her back as always.
"Hey Carrie!" Darwin greeted cheerfully as usual. Carrie bit her lip at his response; how he managed to stay like that all the time was a question that would probably plague her forever.
"…So, Darwin," She began after a moment of silence. "I'll just get straight to the point; I'm not any good at this sort of thing anyway. Sorry for…talking about that thing earlier." She apologized vaguely. Darwin's expression saddened minimally, but still maintained a cheery look.
"It's alright. It's kinda my fault for overreacting like that." He replied with his usual smile; Carrie had no idea how he could forget things like that so easily.
The ghost girl bit her lip, the guilt still weighing on her like a cinder block. As much as Carrie would never admit it (or at least, not in a cheesy fashion), she cared about her friends as much as anyone else did, not to mention that curiosity was still biting her like a persistent insect.
A long silence seemed to pass the duo, the ghost girl seemingly in deep thought.
…
"Do you know about the new Elmorelands?" She asked abruptly. Darwin jumped.
"Elmorelands: The Pre-Sequel?!" He asked excitedly, hands already reaching for the sky. "That game's so action-packed that Mrs. Mom won't even let Mr. Dad play it!" Carrie smiled at the dark-skinned boy's sudden excitement.
"I have it; video games are an easy way to kill time when you can't eat." She answered the unasked question, much to Darwin's delight. "So…do you want to hang out tonight? It's Friday and I don't feel like teleporting to the graveyard."
"Really?!" Darwin exclaimed like a kid in a candy store, which, in this scenario, was almost exactly that. "You mean like a sleepover?" Carrie thought for a moment, and shrugged.
"I guess, although I'm not sure my dad would be alright with you staying over, so let's go over to my house to just play the game."
"YAY!" He cheered loudly, excitedly throwing his arms into the air.
"Want to get going? I overheard Gumball has detention, so we should be good, right?" The dark-skinned boy hummed in thought.
"Hm…I just have to ask Mr. Dad first, he's going to pick me up soon. Are we going to teleport to your house?" The ghost girl shook her head.
"No. I'm still not that accurate at long-distance teleporting, so unless you wanna risk being dropped into the underworld in a pit of fire, how about we just walk?"
"Don't you mean float?" Darwin asked cheekily. Carrie rolled her eyes, but still had a smile on her face. "Let's go!"
The two happily walked/nonchalantly floated down the short hallway and exited the school, the ghost girl still having her legs bend behind her back as usual.
The day was already approaching dusk and the sky was already a fiery orange, accompanied by large white clouds. Carrie couldn't help but hum at the coincidental similarity.
Outside, Richard was there, waiting for the fish boy. Darwin knocked on the car window, which his father lowered. The chubby man with pinky bunny ears gave his son his usual goofy grin.
"Hey son! Where's Gumball?" He asked with an eyebrow raised.
"He got into detention again," Darwin answered. "Mr. Dad, can I go hang out with Carrie tonight? Like a sleepover?" Richard was about to answer, but narrowed his eyes at the ghost girl hovering beside the orange-hooded boy.
"Wait a minute…isn't she the one who possess me every now and then to eat stuff with my body and occasionally ravage the town and eat that one donut cop guy whose name I keep forgetting?" The father asked, scratching his chin in thought. Carrie couldn't help but fidget her fingers at that, while Darwin didn't even blink.
"Yup!"
"Cool," Richard replied in nonchalance, much to Carrie's surprise. "What are you gonna do?"
"We're just going over to play some games! Carrie's got Elmorelands!" Darwin exclaimed, causing the chubby bunny to gasp exasperatedly; Carrie felt as though she should've facepalmed at Darwin's stupidity, but then-
"Are you sure you're ready?" Richard asked ominously.
"Ready for what?"
"Ready for how AWESOME IT'S GOING TO BE?! Promise me that when it's done, you, will, feel, awesome." Richard said from within the car, donning his best 'wise father' voice. Darwin solemnly bowed his head, and pressed a fist on his chest.
"I will do my best, Mr. Father." He vowed. "Just please don't tell Mrs. Mom." The fish boy sheepishly added, to which his father laughed. Carrie, however, was bewildered; how the heck-?
"Don't worry! Have a good time son!"
"Bye Mr. Dad!" Darwin waved his dad goodbye as Richard drove away. When he turned back, he saw Carrie with her mouth wide open.
"What's wrong?" She quickly recovered, flipped her hair and then averted her gaze.
"It's nothing."
"What's wrong?" He asked again.
"I just said it's nothing." Carrie replied a bit more forcefully.
"Gumball told me that when someone says nothing's wrong, it means everything's wrong, it's called subtext." Darwin stated, pointing a finger towards the sky to emphasize his point. Carrie raised her eyebrow at the odd advice, even if it wasn't completely wrong.
"…Let's just talk as we walk." Carrie said unsurely as she began to hover towards her house. Darwin followed suit.
-LINE-BREAK-
The duo took a quick shortcut through the park, which was still illuminated by dusk's slowly fading light. The fish boy and ghost girl walked through the somewhat noisy park of kids and elderly breaking whatever bones they had left-
"Officer! This man is torturing me-e-e!" The red-haired elder whined, pointing towards a certain cloud-haired guidance counselor. The cop groaned and facepalmed in annoyance.
"For the last time, you cannot get someone arrested for making you exercise."
-aka yoga.
Darwin and Carrie casually strode along the stone path through the park, the latter, of course, was still floating, her legs bent behind her back as always.
"So what's up? What's the matter?" Darwin finally asked.
"…" For a while, Carrie stayed silent, reluctant to answer.
"Come on, you can talk to me, talking with a friend's the best way to relax after all." The fish boy insisted, a sincere smile on his face that seemed to crack the tiniest bit of Carrie's walls. She sighed, and finally decided to answer.
"…It's just that I wish that me and dad we like that a lot more you and yours." She answered vaguely, her arms crossed. "Dad was trapped in the mirror for years, so you can imagine how hard it is to relate to someone like that."
"Wait, how old does that make you?" Darwin asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Still 12 like everyone else."
(A/N: Yes I know her actual age is 327 according to "The Drama"…but this is my headcanon. :P)
"Actually, I'm 10." Darwin pointed out.
"Huh, cool." Carrie commented, but went back to the topic. "Anyways, it's been years since I last even saw dad, and while I'm happy to see him, I…I'm…" She stuttered, struggling to find the right words, her hand scratching the inner of her elbow.
"I'm just not really into the whole feelings thing, I guess." She answered simply, mentally scrapping her original answer, like she always did. Darwin tilted his head at that.
"Why?"
"Because…I like being miserable."
"Why?"
"Because feelings aren't really a welcome thing to the dead."
"Why?"
"Because…feelings aren't cool."
"Why?"
Darwin continued to pester the ghost girl, whose answers were seemingly growing weaker each time. "Because…ghosts can't feel feelings." Carrie weakly retorted, to which Darwin was quick to wave his hand at.
"That's not true!" He quickly refuted. "Sure you feel sad and gloomy sometimes, but you can still feel happy! Remember that one time when you scared Tobias so bad that the spilled his coloring all over Principal Brown?" He brought up, earning a chuckle from Carrie. "You were laughing like crazy! You were definitely happy then!" The dark-skinned boy exclaimed with a sincere smile.
"Yeah, that did happen huh?" She replied, giving Darwin a small smile.
"Yeah! And you helped us a bunch of times before, like with Mr. Vladus Lovus Lol Kokichi! (The Mirror)."
"Lokowitchki." Carrie corrected.
"And that time with Gumball's Jealousy! (The Flower) You still care about your friends, and your friends care about you! That just gives you a nice, warm feeling in your heart right?" Darwin asked with a sweet smile, pressing both palms onto his chest. The ghost girl widened her eyes, unsure of how to respond to that.
"…I guess so." Carrie shrugged.
…
"So…" Darwin drawled out. "Why do you like being miserable all the time?" He asked again, determined to understand the ghost girl better.
"I…I don't know." Carrie shrugged again, becoming even more evasive of the topic. The fish boy internally frowned; he knew this conversation was bound to get nowhere due to past conversations with the equally stubborn cat boy, and so, decided to take a more 'offensive' approach.
"I think you're just scared." Darwin pointed out, an almost cheeky look on his face. The ghost girl half-gasped at that.
"W-what?" Carrie stuttered, unsure of what to make of his answer.
"Feelings and emotions aren't really something you're used to, so you try and push it away, kinda like Tobias and every girl he meets." Darwin elaborated as if he was an expert, which, he technically was.
"First off, Tobias is just naturally annoying with anyone, secondly, last I remember; you aren't the one with a bookshelf full of horror DVDs in their house." Carrie denied, arms crossed. Darwin hummed, still unconvinced.
"You know, you're not the only one who was like that once. I felt just like that too when I was still a mermaid or merman thing and Mr. Dad adopted me for the first time from the back of a van, I felt scared, confused, and pretty stupid." He brought up; he thought that bringing up a sense of relatability would help. Carrie briefly opened her mouth to ask what he meant by the back of a van, but decided against it.
"In that case, what were you scared of?" She continued to deny, expecting the fish boy's answer to be something nonsensical and for them to move on from the topic.
…To her surprise, Darwin flinched at the question, his eyes widening and mouth half-open.
"…" He nervously bit his lip, eyes trailing towards the stone floor, his eyes twitching the slightest bit. Carrie raised an eyebrow at his behavior, a hand on her hip.
"I…I guess I was scared they'd leave me." He replied hesitatingly. Carrie's eyes widened slightly.
"What do you mean?"
"It's…it's just…" The fish boy stuttered, struggling to answer. "That they've had a few Darwins before me, so what was to stop them from getting rid of me?"
"Those Darwins never grew legs did they?"
"They also didn't eat three meals a day, need constant attention, or need money to enter school." Darwin muttered, uncharacteristically gloomy; Carrie flinched at that and the fish boy quickly realized what he said.
"SORRY!" He exclaimed a little too loudly, hands raised up defensively. "Just forget about what I said." He tried to wave off, a nervous smile on his face.
"…" Carrie stared at Darwin for a while, genuinely shocked that the dark-skinned boy could think like that, but then shook her head out of her thoughts. "It's fine…just wasn't expecting to hear that from you." She admitted.
"…If you need someone to talk to, I'm willing to listen."
"Nah." Darwin shrugged off. "I think I'd rather hear about from you right now." He replied with a smile…that twitched at its corners. Carrie stared at the fish boy, and sighed. She might as well comply; she was already feeling guilty for earlier, and the moment now was just another weight to her. With a deep breath, she mentally tackled the question she always avoided asking herself.
Why was she so miserable? Why did she seem to enjoy it?
…
Carrie's eyes widened, and she stopped floating forwards. Darwin briefly stumbled at the sudden stop.
"…I…don't know." She internally realized. "…I…really don't have any experience in feelings and love. Both my mom and dad weren't there for my childhood, and to this day I'm still living in grandma's manor." Her gaze trailed towards the ground.
Carrie had never really tackled any sort of self-reflection before; a lack of parents to help you reflect would do that to you, and now, the ghost girl seemed to be in her own world, a very lonely, cold world where it seemed as though her eyes opened for the first time.
"Growing up all alone was…not easy. Since I was a ghost, I didn't need to eat or drink, but it didn't stop me from wishing I had someone to take care of me." She paused, unsure of where she was going with this. "I…don't remember a lot from when I was young, nothing happy anyways…" She muttered.
"I…guess I accept misery and sorrow because…they're all I had with me, and I'm…" Carrie choked. "I know it doesn't make sense to you, but I don't want to let them go…" She brooded drearily, eyes focused forwards as she did so. "I…I just can't let them go." She repeated depressingly, eyes shadowed by her short hair.
Why did it take so long for her to figure that out?
…
As she pondered over her own thoughts, still in a state of confusion, Darwin couldn't help but frown for the ghost girl. Her answer was incredibly depressing, and the fish boy was determined to change that. How though, was something he hadn't figured out yet.
…
Darwin suddenly grabbed Carrie's hand, which was luckily opaque at the time.
"W-what?" Carrie flinched at the sudden contact. The action was so surprising to her that she lowered her legs in surprise, her feet making contact with the stone flooring for once. At that point, the two were essentially the same height, finally making even eye-contact. Darwin could only smile, trying to hide the red in his face.
"Sorry. I just have a habit of following of what my heart wants when I'm confused, even if it seems stupid or embarrassing." He began with a small smile, face still glowing red. "Well, if you're scared, that's fine. Everyone's scared sometimes." He attempted to comfort.
"It's kind of silly to be scared of being happy though, isn't it?" She retorted, raising an eyebrow.
"Doesn't matter." Darwin waved off. "If you're scared, your friends and I will be there every step of the way!" He assured with his usual optimistic smile.
"…I'm…not really sure I follow…" Carrie replied, genuinely confused.
"You're scared of being happy since you've never really felt it often right? You don't want to love because you don't know what to do?" He summarized. "That's okay! You just have to learn!"
"Learn how to be happy?" Carrie questioned with a raised eyebrow.
"Well, it's more like accepting to be happy. I don't really understand your situation all that well if I'm being honest, but I know it'll turn out alright in the end!" He exclaimed. Carrie rolled her eyes.
"That's a naïve way of thinking."
"Maybe." Darwin shrugged. "But hey, it's worth a shot, right? You won't know it until you try, and you look a lot better when you're happy anyway." The ghost girl blushed at the sudden compliment, but still wasn't convinced.
"It's not that easy." She replied weakly, still averting her gaze. "Joy can be taken away easily, misery can't."
"But doesn't that just mean being happy is something precious?" Darwin retorted without a second thought. "If joy is something so easily taken away, then it's just another reason why have to keep appreciating it, and looking for it every day!" He quoted optimistically with a light shrug.
The ghost girl couldn't help but ponder in silence for a moment, thinking over his words and her own. Parts of her mind were still denying it, but those seemed to be tearing at the seams with each passing second. As cheesy as Darwin's answer was, she found truth in them.
Carrie found herself subconsciously smiling, oddly happy that her own argument was losing the fight.
"…I…still don't know if I can accept being happy that easily." She replied, lowering her head.
"It's okay; Gumball told me that the first step to solving a problem is to admit you have it. (The Potato). You've already taken a big step, so why stop now?" The dark-skinned boy retorted, his usual joyful smile cracking Carrie's walls.
…
"Thanks." Carrie said, finally meeting the fish boy's gaze with a sincere smile; probably the first in a long, long time.
"No problem!" Darwin replied, saluting the ghost girl.
…
The duo's stares suddenly turned towards their still intertwined hands.
"…Warm…" Carrie muttered; she was never used to actually being in contact with a living being for more than 2 seconds (not counting possession), and the feeling…was almost addicting to her. "…I…want to hold your hand for a little longer." She muttered, only furthering Darwin's blush.
"I-it's cool." He stuttered, a smile still on his face.
"Yeah." Carrie mumbled with a smile of her own, before resuming the walk to her house, this time actually using her legs.
"Uh…Carrie? Why aren't you floating?" Darwin asked curiously, walking alongside the ghost girl.
"…I…don't know." She admitted, before growing a sly smile. "Guess I just want to get a better look of your face." Darwin nervously laughed at that, but still didn't let go.
"W-well!" He squeaked out embarrassingly. "I-I said I was going to be there every step of the way, right?" He recalled, sheepishly scratching his cheek.
"Yeah…" Carrie drawled out. "Sorry if…this feels awkward…I really don't do this sort of thing often." She muttered, expressing awkwardness for once.
"It's fine," Darwin assured, sounding more confident. "I'll accept who you are no matter what!" He replied cheerfully, a smile still plastered to his face like a license plate.
"Awwwwwwwwwwwwww!"
The bystanders from around them suddenly chorused, having overheard the duo's conversation around mid-way; said duo's blush deepened as they finally remembered they were still in public.
"W-we're close enough to my manor for me to teleport without screwing up." Carrie suddenly brought up, wanting to leave as soon as possible. "I-I hope so anyways." She added.
"W-well," Darwin stuttered, resisting the urge to avert his gaze. "I trust you, Carrie."
"AWWWWWWWWWWWWW-!"
"Let's just go please!" The fish boy squeaked out, tightening his grip on Carrie as the duo vanished in an instant.
Snap!
-LINE-BREAK-
"I'm home!" Gumball called out as he entered his home.
"Welcome home Gumball." Nicole greeted from the kitchen. "Wait, where's Darwin?" Gumball raised an eyebrow.
"Wait, he's not here?"
"No, your father should have picked him up hours ago."
"I'm right here Nicole!" Richard suddenly walked through the front door behind Gumball, holding two buckets of chicken. "It was buy 1 bucket get 1 free at Joyful Burger; who wants dinner~?" Anais, who had been sitting on the couch, raised an eyebrow.
"Joyful Burger has a buy 1 bucket get 1 free menu? Since when?"
"Ever since I walked in apparently!" Richard answered.
"Honey, where's Darwin? You said you'd pick him up by now." Nicole asked, her hands rested on her hips. Richard chuckled a bit.
"Oh, he's just hanging out with one of his ghost friends at her house."
"Ghost? You mean Carrie?" Gumball asked.
"Yeah! Apparently they're having a sleepover playing Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-" Richard drawled as he suddenly realized what he wasn't supposed to say, his mouth moving in oddly disproportionate ways. "-exotic games!" He finished nervously. Nicole narrowed her eyes at her husband, but shrugged.
"Well, I suppose it's not any of our business to what he does in his free time." She reasoned. The family agreed and nodded their heads. Gumball headed upstairs, Anais resumed watching TV, Nicole went into the kitchen and Richard. Went to set his buckets down on the dining table.
…
And then, the reality of the situation hit 3 of the Wattersons.
"WAIT DARWIN IS-"
"HANGING OUT-"
"WITH A GIRL?!"
Gumball, Anais and Nicole respectively exclaimed while Richard nonchalantly ate a chicken leg.
"Yeah! He said he was going to sleepover there or something."
"SLEEPOVER?!" The three Wattersons echoed.
"What's the big deal?" Richard asked, confused.
"Because it's Darwin!" Gumball exclaimed. "He's like, the adorable fruitcake of our family, and he's with a girl! And she's with Carrie! The closest our school has to an emo!"
"Also as his younger sister, I'm morally obliged to know what he does." Anais chimed in. "But also because it's Darwin! He'll probably end up doing something really awkward and end the hang out on an awkward note that will make future conversations just an awkward and their friendship will be ruined forever." She added, knowing full well of what that felt like.
"Well…" Nicole drawled, biting her lip. "I guess we should give your brother some privacy, it's his life after all, and if decides to spend it with a ghost girl in the middle of the night in a haunted manor…who are we to judge…?" She attempted to reason, but ultimately failed.
"Yeah!" Richard supported. "They're just playing some Elmorelands anyways!" He blurted out carelessly.
"THEY'RE WHAT?!" Gumball and Nicole both yelled, the former out of envy and the latter out of-
"GET IN THE CAR!" Nicole demanded with trails of venom in her words. Richard slowly raised a finger in retort.
"Now hold on a second-"
"NOW!"
-LINE-BREAK-
Darwin and Carrie suddenly popped into the latter's bedroom, standing on top of a purple carpet.
The walls were striped with lavender and purple, and a dark wooden furnish encompassed the floor and ceiling. As expected, there were numerous skull-themed decorations and rock posters on the wall, and yet, oddly enough, Darwin didn't feel that creeped out by it.
Before he could comment on the ghost girl's room, the door opened.
"Welcome back Carrie! I heard you…tele…port…in" Vladus Lovus Lokowitchki could only stare as his daughter and some dark-skinned guy in an orange hoodie stood alone in his the former's room, both of them with crimson faces, and his daughter unusually standing on her ghost legs instead of floating like usual.
…
"Carrie, I understand girls your age are eager, but are you sure you aren't going to fast?" He teased with a smile. The duo's already deep blush only furthered when they realized they were still holding hands.
"O-oh." Carrie made her hand phase-through again, making Darwin's hand slip through hers. The fish boy frowned for a split-second, before he went back to smiling as he recognized the ghost at the door. He walked over towards him and extended an open hand.
"Glad to finally meet you, Mr. Vlad!" He greeted. Vladus raised an eyebrow, but finally recognized the orange-hooded boy.
"Oooh! You're one of the two who saved me from the mirror! Darwin right?" The orange-hooded boy nodded.
"Uh-huh!"
"Well, sorry that our last meeting didn't exactly go as planned…"
"Glad to finally meet you sir!"
SLASH!
"HE SEEMS TO HAVE A FEW ISSUES!"
"It's okay; it wasn't your fault anyway." Darwin assured with a wave of his hand. Vlad raised an eyebrow, and turned towards Carrie, whom shrugged as he made his 'wait is this guy serious I almost killed him why is he forgiving me like-what in the underworld?' face.
"Uh…no problem! Anyways, Carrie…" Vlad stuttered for a moment, and continued. "I'm heading out of the manor to hang out with some old friends of mine…and by that I mean really old. Are you okay with that?"
"Uh…sure." Carrie replied. Vlad smiled, but it seemed…bittersweet.
"Thanks. Darwin, there's still some crackers in the basement that probably aren't expired yet if you get hungry." Vlad explained, hands on his hips.
"What about inside the fridge?"
"Oh, that's where my buddy Freddy keeps his spare hands and nails."
"Really?"
"No."
"What about the kitchen?"
"That's where Slenderman keeps his extra suits."
"Really?"
"Yes."
"Can I see?"
"No."
After the brief conversation between the two, Darwin nodded. He then turned towards Carrie, with a face that expressed 'talk to him darnit', sadly, Carrie didn't seem to get the signal. The fish boy internally frowned, then turned back to the father.
"Can I stay here for the night?" Darwin asked, turning back towards him with an innocent smile. Vlad couldn't help chuckle at the fish boy.
"Sorry kid, but maybe next time. Ciao!"
Snap!
Vlad teleported away, instantly vanishing without a trace of his presence. Darwin turned towards Carrie, whom adopted a sad expression-
Snap!
"Oh!" Vlad suddenly popped back, startling the two. "Uh…Carrie…" The father hesitated, nervously biting his lip.
"Love you, sweetie." He said awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck. Darwin eagerly turned towards Carrie for her response, eyes shining despite the room's dark lighting. The ghost girl stuttered, unsure of how to respond.
"…Uhhhhhhh..." Carrie couldn't help but drawl, her jaw wide open, until Darwin snapped his fingers in front of her face.
"Come on," Darwin whispered to the ghost girl. Carrie then finally inhaled deeply in response.
"…Love you too dad." She finally replied, her mouth unused to uttering those words. Her father almost flinched at the unexpected words, but let out a grateful smile.
"See you, sweetie."
Snap!
…
"Well, that went well!" Darwin exclaimed with his hands on his hip. Carrie, at this point, was too tired to comment on that.
"Let's go load up the game." She suggested as she hovered towards the large TV on the room.
Darwin looked around the room a bit more thoroughly: a medium sized bed was in the corner of the room, and everywhere else were shelves upon shelves of books, movies, and a few other things he didn't really understand; what really caught his eye though…
"Is that Daisy the Donkey?"
Snap!
Carrie immediately teleported in front of the doll, vanished, then returned doll-less.
"No, what are you talking about, there's nothing there, Daisy the what?" She denied with her arms crossed over her sleeveless polo. Darwin smiled widely at that, faintly remembering a similar occurrence (The Pony).
"It's cool; Anais makes me and Gumball watch it all the time!" He exclaimed. Carrie still looked away from the fish boy, embarrassed. Darwin happily rolled his eyes as he walked towards her again. "Come on, I said I'd accept who you are no matter what, right?"
"…" Carrie resisted the urge to blush at being reminded of that. "…Come on, let's just load up the game." She insisted as she Snap!-ed towards the tv and console. Darwin hummed.
"Guess we still need to work on that." He noted.
"Shut up." Carrie replied snarkily, though the slight smile on her face betrayed her.
"If you say so." Darwin replied in his usual cheeky manner. Carrie picked up her spare set of wireless headphones and handed it to the fish boy.
"Here, I've got a few spares, you can keep that if you want." She said. Darwin beamed at his gift, jumping in place.
"Thanks Carrie!"
"No problem." The ghost girl picked up the video game and put in into the console, before growing a sly smile.
"This game's pretty intense, but you're sure you can handle it, right?" She asked with an almost curse-word-eating grin. Darwin puffed his chest out, set his new headphones and raised a fist.
"I can!"
Sometime later…
"TAKE THIS YOU GALIFRAGALISTIC CYCLOPS!"
Darwin yelled out as the Ultimate Legendary Lunatic finally went down after 3 attempts of doing so. The two were sat down on the carpet, with Darwin leaning back against the bed and a decent distance between the ghost girl. Outside, the moon was already in the sky, illuminating the darkly lit room along with a few candles and a bedside lamp.
"YES!" Carrie rejoiced as she high-fived the fish boy. "Oh my gosh I can't believe that's finally over. Ultra Predator Mode is seriously tough. Three health bars this early in the game?"
"Yeah! It's like having to make a sandwich without the meat or the mayo, eugh." Darwin agreed. The duo laughed for a moment before resuming their game.
"I still don't get why you chose Z4P-H4K though."
"What? He's adorable! And his little robot body makes him look like an obscure pencil sharpener that grew wheels!" Darwin answered, though it didn't really answer Carrie's inquiry. The two continued to play the game for a while, their player characters exploring a dark volcanic area.
The ghost girl, however, tilted her head when she noticed a certain quadrupedal creature with unique features…
"Doesn't that thing kinda remind you of Penny's pig form?" She commented, thinking it would bring a laugh.
Instead, Darwin froze for a moment, his back going stiff, nearly dropping his controller on the carpet floor, and his eyes dilating inwards.
"..Darwin?" Carrie tilted her head, and eventually, the dark-skinned boy unfroze, his fingers still twitching on the controller.
"Y-Y-Yeah, I can see that." He shakily responded. Carrie raised an eyebrow at the fish boy, letting several moments pass before she spoke again.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing." Darwin was quick to retort.
"What's wrong?"
"I just said it's nothing."
"Someone once told me that when someone says nothing's wrong, it means everything's wrong, it's called subtext." Carrie couldn't help but smile as she threw his words back at him.
"…Well I don't know what subtext actually means so that doesn't count." He pouted. "Let's just resume the game." Darwin insisted, already advancing his character on the screen…
To his surprise, Carrie suddenly shut it off.
"Hey! What'd you do that for?" Darwin asked with a subtle frown, letting the headphones rest on his neck.
"…Dunno." Carrie replied dumbly staring at the turned off TV screen, surprising the fish boy, and herself, again. "Guess I feel like repaying you right now." She said, turning her heard towards him.
"What do you mean?" Darwin asked dumbly.
"You…" Carrie drawled out, unsure of what she was doing. "I'm no expert, but you seem like you're in a…situation, and I figured since I'm around and you already helped me with my thing, might as well listen." She shrugged. Darwin rubbed his arm nervously.
"I-it's fine, you don't have to pay me back or anything. How about we just keep on playing?" He insisted.
Carrie suddenly teleported directly beside the fish boy, now shoulder-to-shoulder with Darwin's right side. Darwin couldn't help but jump a little at that.
"Weren't you the one who said talking with a friend was the best way to relax?" She tilted her head at the fish boy as she threw his words back at him again, her face a bit too close for comfort.
"Well, I think I'm already plenty relaxed so don't think there's a need." Darwin denied, nervously twirling his hair.
…
Carrie sighed, struggling to find the words to get the fish boy to crack as he did with her. Darwin had already comforted her about her problems, but how was she supposed to comfort him about his? She had very little experience in comforting someone, but figured she might as well try.
Darwin always tried, so she didn't see why she couldn't return the favor.
"…Come on." Carrie insisted. "You're always the one to cheer everyone else up about their problems, but who's there to cheer you up about yours?"
"Gumball?"
"Last I recall, you said that he, 'tied the knot with Penny' and spent a lot less time with you." Darwin stuttered at that.
"W-well, I don't really have a problem with that-"
"I remember this morning, Darwin. This might surprise you, but my memory actually goes back further than you might think." Carrie deadpanned, a little infuriated with how evasive of the topic the fish boy seemed to be. "And let's not forget about that comment you made in the park."
"I thought we agreed to forget about that." Darwin weakly retorted, to which Carrie blew a raspberry at.
"No. No we didn't."
"Well-"
"SHUSH!"
Carrie playfully mimicked Darwin's word from that morning, a smile on her face, before slowly dissolving into a sympathetic frown.
"…Come on." She began. "I'm literally the last person who should be doing this sort of thing, but here I am, trying to comfort a fish who grew legs with issues…of some kind." She exclaimed, figuring that getting straight to the point was the only way either of them was ever going to get anywhere in this conversation. "Besides, I said I'd be willing to listen, right?"
"…" Darwin frowned deeply. His eyes slowly trailed towards the game controller in his hand, before he set it down, making the ghost girl to his right side tilt her head.
"…Am I really just a fish with legs?" The orange-hooded boy brooded, his eyes closed.
…
"What do you mean by that?" Carrie asked, dumbfounded. Darwin sighed.
"…It's just that I feel like compared to everyone else, that's really all I am." He explained. "Gumball has a girlfriend, Anais is a 4-year-old smartypants without pants, and Mrs. Mom and Mr. Dad raised the family all by themselves. What am I? Gumball's sidekick, the fish that grew legs, I don't have anything going for me like they do." He elaborated, his gaze trailing towards the carpet. Carrie's eyes briefly widened, not expecting that answer from the fish bo- from Darwin, of all people.
"That's not true." Carrie retorted. "You're Darwin Watterson."
"Uh-huh." Darwin half-heartedly replied. "And just who is Darwin Watterson? What does he do?"
…
Carrie tried to formulate an answer, but couldn't; that made Darwin sigh depressingly.
"See?" He said, his point made.
"You…cheer everyone else up. Even the ghost emo." She replied, attempting to tread lightly on the orange-hooded boy's current uncharacteristic nature.
"So? Gumball can do that, and if that's all I'm good at I might as well just be Gumball's shadow." He shrugged, his expression gloomy and lifeless. "At the end of the day, all I've got going for me is that I'm happy, without that, I don't think anyone even remembers me." Darwin suddenly chuckled, surprising Carrie a bit. "It's been like that for forever now, so I guess there's no changing that huh?"
"…" Carrie stuttered, unused to being on the receiving end of his- end of her thoughts. "What do you mean by that?" She asked, barely in a whisper. The fish boy sighed again.
"I told you that I was scared that…they'd leave me, right?" He recalled, to which Carrie nodded. "Anais was smart, Gumball was their first son, and I…was happy. That's really it." Darwin replied depressingly, his head lowered.
"I was always scared that they'd just up and leave me one day, so I thought I needed something to…define myself, I guess. I wasn't smart, and I wasn't even biologically their son, so all I could do was just act as cute as can be and always be happy and try not to be annoying; it was all I had left. I mean, I kind of just forced myself in the family one day, so why wouldn't they want to get rid of me?" He explained. "Guess not being annoying didn't carry over growing up huh?" He joked with a forced smile.
"Your family would never leave you. They're not that kind of people." Carrie assured. Darwin's frown didn't leave his face though.
"Tell that to the other Darwins they've had."
"Those Darwins never grew legs did they?"
"They also didn't eat three meals a day, need constant attention, or need money to enter school."
The two echoed their previous conversation, except this time, the tension was thick enough to cut with a knife.
Carrie bit her lip, her argument tearing at the seams; why did she, the ghost rock enthusiast, have to be the one to comfort the very much alive happy fish boy? Then again though, she did ask for it…
"…Well, how did you deal with it?" She asked, deciding to just let the conversation flow as the words left her mouth; it wasn't something she was used to, at all.
"I didn't." Darwin shrugged. "If I had to say, I guess that all of Gumball's plans and schemes always distracted me, he just always me feel involved, you know?" He asked, a faint smile on his face as he raised his head at her. "And…now that he's with Penny I guess I just guess that I had a lot more time to think about it…alone. Maybe that's why I…dislike her so much." He said absentmindedly with a light frown, but still refusing to admit he hated her. The dark-skinned boy gave the carpet a downcast gaze.
"I guess if I had to put it better, it's like having a chocolate birthday cake every year, but then suddenly growing old and suddenly receiving flavorless bitter cake." Darwin tried to analogize as best he could, as if a last-ditch effort to lighten the mood and to get rid of the topic.
"…" Carrie bit her lip, internally stunned that the happy-go-lucky Darwin could even remotely think like this. To her, it was as if the world got turned upside-down; none of it made sense.
She barely understood emotion, and to see someone so happy all the time, think like her, of all people almost gave her a headache when she thought about it too much.
The dark-skinned boy sighed depressingly, letting his body lean against the bed frame and his head droop down. The ghost girl clutched her head tightly, ending her mental debate and trying to think of a way to help the fish boy with his…problem.
…
Carrie, completely lost and already on the verge of a headache, took a page out of Darwin's book; she just let her heart decide what to do.
The ghost girl abruptly clutched the fish boy's hand.
"C-Carrie? What are you doing?" Darwin asked, a bit flustered.
"…" Carrie herself didn't know the answer. "Took a page out of your book and just let my heart decide… worked for you after all." She answered with a light shrug, her face flushing red with embarrassment at her decision, and but still didn't retract her hand.
"…Look, I honestly have no idea what I'm doing." Carrie admitted. "I'm the emo girl who has trouble smiling everyday, and you're the guy who literally does smile everyday; if that's not a match made in the underworld, I don't know what is." She added, not really knowing what she was doing.
"…" Darwin didn't know how to respond to that.
"But hey, if what you need's just a distraction, I can help." Carrie shrugged. "I'm no expert on this, so I can't really say anything, but a good friend is always there for another, right? I'll…stay by your side for a while. I'm no Gumball, but I like to think I'm at least pretty good at having fun." She said, a tiny smile on her face.
"…" Darwin bit his lip, unsure of how to respond to that.
A tense silence followed afterward, the ghost girl intently staring at the dark-skinned boy for his reaction. When enough time passed, Carrie clutched Darwin's hand tighter, making him turn his head towards her.
"…Even if you don't think you're important…I do." Carrie muttered out, barely audible, her hand clutching his tighter. "You're a natural ball of joy wherever you go, and you always manage to cheer me up…that counts for something, right?" She asked, mustering the sincerest smile she could at Darwin.
"Well…yeah," Darwin mumbled back. "You're…important to me too."
…
The ghost girl didn't need to speak any more words to comfort the fish boy; the odd, cold comfort of her hand was enough for him, and Darwin eventually clutched back tighter as well.
Darwin, although not necessarily feeling any better about his predicament, truly appreciated Carrie's gesture.
"…Thanks Carrie." He replied; a part of him knew that this by no means changed anything about his thoughts…but then again, the odd coldness of the ghost girl's hand helped distract him, even for a bit.
"You're welcome." Carrie replied almost sassily, before the duo fell into an awkward silence again.
…
"…" Neither of the two spoke, unsure of where all of this was heading, and decided to just let the awkwardness lie in silence for a while, their faces heating up with each passing moment.
"…You're a great guy, you know that, right?" Carrie suddenly spoke, the blush on her face still evident.
"Thanks," Darwin replied awkwardly, but still with a sincere smile. "You're pretty great too."
…
"…This is nice, actually." Carrie suddenly commented, the silence reminding her of the library. "Sorry if this is awkward…" She apologized; she couldn't help that being in contact with a mortal for so long was so addicting.
"…It's…" Darwin yawned, bringing a small smile to the ghost girl. "Fine…Thanks for listening to my whining." He added. Carrie frowned.
"I think it's more than whining…just promise me you'll get some actual help someday, alright?"
"I'm sure it's not that bad-"
"Shush." Carrie playfully repeated from earlier, before frowning. "…Promise?"
"…Promise."
The two sincerely smiled at each other, no longer needing words as they silently relaxed, leaning against one another.
It was odd how they were opposites, yet found comfort with one another. Carrie, the depressed emo who was depressed because she was alone, contrasted almost perfectly with Darwin, the happy fish kid who was happy because he was scared of being alone. They understood the other's feelings, and they both talked about it for what seemed like the first time in their lives.
...It also helped that they were both crimson-faced and their faces were inches apart.
"…!" The duo's blushes deepened as they realized that fact…but didn't retract…in fact, they seemed to be closing in-
CRASH!
Of course, the adorable moment was ruined by 4 certain family members crashing through the manor inside a car…despite it being the second floor. Nicole angrily got out of her car, and stomped towards the duo.
"There you arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeee-!" She was about to scold the duo…before noting their red faces, intertwined hands, and the veeeeeerrry short distance between one another. The two, finally out of their trance, took notice of this and separated quickly.
…
-LINE-BREAK-
Nicole couldn't help but internally hiss at herself for that.
"Sorry…about…that." She apologized. Darwin, as usual, gave a happy smile in response as the family slowly walked outside of the manor.
"It's okay Mrs. Mom!" He reassured. The mom internally sighed in relief, but then glared at him.
"You're still grounded for playing Elmorelands."
"Aw."
"So, how'd you feel while playing the game, son?" Richard asked as he entered the passenger's seat.
"It was great! We had a lot of fun." Darwin replied with a bright smile. Gumball hummed, a bit irritated.
"Hey! You should invite me next time to play too." The cat boy beside him couldn't help but be jealous of his younger brother.
"No, you are not!" Nicole was quick to deny.
"In that case, can I-"
"No." The mother quickly shut down Anais as well. Gumball groaned in response, before turning towards the dark-skinned boy again.
"So, you have a thing for Carrie now?"
"WHAT?!"
Darwin's shriek nearly shattered the glass panes of the car, although it left the family unfazed.
"Come on!" Richard teased with his usual goofy grin, making the orange-hooded boy blush madly. "You can tell us!" He followed-up, with Nicole and Anais seemingly interested in the answer. Darwin felt sweat trail down his neck as the cat boy 'tsk tsk'-ed at his brother, a sly smile on his face.
"Well, you know Darwin, relationships are a very fragile thing, so you have to-" Darwin went from embarrassed to internally groaning as he felt another speech about Penny coming his way. He attempted to scratch his neck, but came into contact with Carrie's headphones she gifted him earlier…
A lightbulb shined over his head as he put them on, successfully tuning out his brothers' rambling.
Darwin let out a sigh of relief as his brother absentmindedly went on another tangent on Penny, not even aware that his brother was wearing headphones. The dark-skinned boy decided to lean against the window, staring at the large hole in Carrie's manor.
To his surprise, she saw the ghost girl there, staring back and waving goodbye. Darwin responded in kind, showing a cheery smile as per usual as the family drove away from the manor.
…
Carrie couldn't help but let out a bright smile as she mentally recalled the events of that night.
"So…"
Her father suddenly popped up behind her with a sly grin, startling Carrie. "Who's your boyfriend?"
The ghost girl then slammed her face against the desk in front of her.
-LINE-BREAK-
I guess that's that?
Anyways, I've noticed a surprising lack of Darwin-centric fics and attention in general, and although I wish he got more spotlight, I do kinda understand why Gumball is much more popular, and that in itself is the reason why this was really hard to fricking write.
Darwin is a 'passive' or 'reactionary' character, which, while it perfectly compliments Gumball's more 'active' character, doesn't leave all that much room for writing the fish boy
Of course, since Darwin is my favorite character, since we're both 'middle' children and since I have this deep habit to write stuff against the norm (after seeing Gumball essentially be the Ash Ketchum of the TAWOG Fanfics), I was determined to write something for Darwin, and here we are I guess.
Now, as for "The Drama" age part, I guess that's mostly due to my own personal headcannon/bias. Carrie's 'lived' for 327 years and still acts like a teenager. What happened in those 300+ years? How long does it take for a ghost to age? Why is she even in high school anymore? Does this mean she should technically be an adult? If the answer to this is 'Because it's a cartoon' or 'Because it's funny', I call fiddlesticks. Of course, all of this could just be simply explained by saying I'm a stupidhead and overcomplicating this show and just really want to make Carrier 12 years old for the sake of simplicity, but I digress and I'll just say I'm being stupid. I should probably stop rambling now…nah.
I wrote this since Carwin is an absolutely adorable ship, although I really do question why they decided to just bring this out of nowhere without any buildup, which is one of the main reasons why people don't like this ship. People also tend to not like this ship since these two are like oil and water and could never blend, but really, prime examples of opposite relationships in the show are Nicole and Richard, Gumball and Penny (To an extent), and if you want physical examples, being that Carrie is a ghost and Darwin is alive, Alan literally explodes every time he talks with Carmen.
Not saying you have to like this ship, you're free to think whatever you want about it.
So, yeah. I tried writing this to make the Carwin transition seem a bit more natural, and to try and delve a bit deeper into Darwin's character, since the fish boy's not very popular, both in episode, and in fanfics. [Aw :(] . They kinda tried to tackle this topic in "The Burden" in a brief moment of Darwin's ranting and anxiety, but that was overshadowed by the disgusting horror show they showed afterwards, and never really tackled again, except for "The Bros", which I feel as though had potential to be something else, and thus, this fic came into existence.
Also, writing this was excruciatingly difficult, not only because of Darwin's character, but the nature of TAWOG as a whole; it's an intelligent show (at times), tackling certain topics (The Faith) (The Parents) or even just showing absolutely heartwarming scenes (The Origins) (The Choices), while still feeling like a cartoon. That was really hard to replicate, and I probably screwed it up here. Please tell me if I did, or if I screwed up with anything else like characterization.
This fic could've been handled better, but eh.
Anyways, that's that! Feel free to leave your criticism and comments below!
Thank you for reading, and have a great day!